Blog note.
Jesus indicated that ‘fearful sights’ (various natural disasters) would occur
leading up to the time known as the Tribulation and Great Tribulation (a
combined seven year period of great destruction on earth). Although these types
of things have occurred in the past for centuries and thousands of years, they
could be identified as the ‘season of the times’ due to the ferociousness of
these events. They would be occurring in greater intensity, severity,
frequency, size, duration, scope … just like the pains that a woman experiences
in labor the farther along she is in the labor process. We are in the ‘season
of the times’ that comes just before the seven (7) year Tribulation/Great
Tribulation period

… And great earthquakes shall be in diverse places, and famines, and
pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
(Luke 21:11).

… And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and
upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves
roaring; (Luke 21:25)

… Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which
are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken; (Luke 21:26)

… This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. (2 Timothy
3:1)

Jesus is giving a series of prophecies about what to look for as the age of
grace comes to a close. These verses are several of many such prophecies from
throughout the Bible. 2017 was the worst year in recorded history for the
intensity, frequency, severity, duration and occurrence of a large number of
severe natural disasters worldwide. Earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes,
typhoons, cyclones, torrential flooding, unprecedented wildfires in unusual
places, devastating droughts, excessive/scorching heat setting records
everywhere, record snowfalls in Europe and Russia. Snow in the Arabia. This
list can go on. Most studied Eschatologists believe these ‘fearful sights’ and
massive natural disasters are all part of the ‘CONVERGENCE’ of signs that this
Biblical and prophetic age is closing. Most people who study prophecy are
familiar with the routine reference(s) made that these things will be like
a woman having labor pains, growing in intensity, frequency, size, duration and
scope.

New Delhi banned 50% (5) the Indian
capital’s private cars from its roads on Monday as the megacity’s 20 million
people spluttered with stinging eyes in the worst pollution in three years.

As smog levels exceeded those of
Beijing by more than three times, authorities also parked a van with an air
purifier near the Taj Mahal — the iconic 17th-century marble mausoleum 250
kilometres (150 miles) south of Delhi — in a bid to clean the air in its
surrounds.

With the pollution causing a rush of
respiratory complaints at hospitals and the diversion of over 36 (6×6) flights
on Sunday,a new law came into effect restricting cars
from the capital’s roads to alternative days, depending on if their number
plate ends in an odd or even number.

More than 600 police teams were
deployed at road intersections in the capital with the power to hand out fines
of 4,000 rupees (nearly $60) to transgressors

Exempt from
the restrictions were Delhi’s seven million motorbikes and scooters, public
transport and cars carrying only women, stoking criticism that the measures
were ineffective.

“There
is smoke everywhere and people, including youngsters, kids, elderly are finding
it difficult to breathe,” Delhi’s chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said in a
Twitter video. “Eyes are burning. Pollution is that bad.”

Construction
was banned temporarily late last week in the world’s most polluted capital
city, while schools have been closed until Wednesday, with the city government
handing out free pollution masks to children.

“I have
a headache every day I wake up. It’s suffocating to breathe sometimes. And
inflammation in the nostrils and all. And eyes also. Like it kind of
burns,” Ankusha Kushi, a student, told AFP.

As Delhiites
woke up on Monday, levels of particulates measuring less than 2.5 microns — so
tiny they enter deep into the respiratory tract — were at 613 micrograms per
cubic metre of air, according to the US embassy in Delhi.

– Deadly
over long term –

The World
Health Organisation’s recommended safe daily maximum is a reading of 25.

In central
Delhi, the state air quality institute rated levels of the tiny particulates —
which can be deadly over the long term — as “severe”.

Bollywood
megastar Priyanka Chopra Jonas posted a selfie in pollution mask on Instagram
and said it was “hard to shoot” in Delhi.

“I
can’t even imagine what it must be like to live here under these conditions. We
r blessed with air purifiers and masks. Pray for the homeless,” she
posted.

Fourteen
Indian cities including the capital are among the world’s top 15 most polluted
cities, according to the World Health Organization.

One study
last year said that a million Indians died prematurely every year as a result.

With local
elections due in Delhi in early 2020, the crisis has also become a casualty of
political bickering, with each side blaming the other.

Kejriwal,
who likened Delhi to a “gas chamber” on Friday, said the city had
done its part to curb pollution and that the burning of wheat stubble residue
on farms outside the capital had to be stopped.

India’s
supreme court too stepped-in, slamming the authorities for failing to curb
pollution and asked them to tighten rules against violators.

– Car rule
‘a stunt’ –

But national
environment minister Prakash Javadekar accused Kejriwal of politicising the
issue, while an MP from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) violated the odd-even car rule as a “symbolic protest” by
driving a car that was barred under the scheme.

Experts
warned that both state and national governments needed to go beyond short-term
remedies.

Stop-gap
solutions “can’t be a substitute for addressing the major long-term
chronic sources of air pollution”, Daniel Cass, from global non-profit
Vital Strategies, told AFP.

Changing
agricultural practices, switching electricity generation sources and
accelerating the conversion of home heating from charcoal to natural gas were
also key measures in the pollution fight, Cass said.

Siddharth
Singh, a climate policy expert, said the traffic restrictions are
“ineffective”.

“If air
pollution was solely due to the vehicular traffic, then this would be a
solution. Right now it cannot be a solution because motorised private transport
has a very small share in the whole pie,” Singh told AFP.